Hammed Shittu
5 July 2009
Ilorin — Former Chelsea manager, Jose Mourinho, has explained that, the reason behind his signing of many African players for the clubs he has handled was due to the natural skills inherent in most of them.
Mourinho, who said this yesterday in Ilorin during his courtesy call on the Kwara State Governor, Dr. Bukola Saraki, said: "Most of these players are well talented and skilful and everyone would like to work with such players to achieve good results."
He said that, the numerous achievements he had achieved in the field of football could not have been possible if his players in their respective clubs he had coached were not skilful or dedicated.
He admitted that, his managerial skills would have been useless if he had not had the opportunity to work with these players.
He noted, "When people speak of my achievements and the number of trophies I've won, I don't feel comfortable, because without players, we would not have won anything. So people should not talk of Mourinho alone".
Responding, the state governor, Dr. Saraki hailed Mourinho's readiness to continually tap youthful talents in Nigeria towards giving them the opportunities to excel in football abroad.
During his first season in charge of Chelsea, Mourinho fought a long-drawn tug-of-war with Sir Alex Ferguson over the signature of Super Eagles star, John Obi Mikel.
The Inter Milan boss is in the country at the behest of the Kwara Football Academy.
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